EP1899229B1 - Systeme de fermeture d'attache - Google Patents

Systeme de fermeture d'attache Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1899229B1
EP1899229B1 EP06784941A EP06784941A EP1899229B1 EP 1899229 B1 EP1899229 B1 EP 1899229B1 EP 06784941 A EP06784941 A EP 06784941A EP 06784941 A EP06784941 A EP 06784941A EP 1899229 B1 EP1899229 B1 EP 1899229B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
clip
leg
closure system
jaw
connector
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Not-in-force
Application number
EP06784941A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP1899229A2 (fr
EP1899229A4 (fr
Inventor
Eggo L. Haschke
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Poly Clip System Corp
Original Assignee
Poly Clip System Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Poly Clip System Corp filed Critical Poly Clip System Corp
Publication of EP1899229A2 publication Critical patent/EP1899229A2/fr
Publication of EP1899229A4 publication Critical patent/EP1899229A4/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP1899229B1 publication Critical patent/EP1899229B1/fr
Not-in-force legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
    • B65B51/00—Devices for, or methods of, sealing or securing package folds or closures; Devices for gathering or twisting wrappers, or necks of bags
    • B65B51/04—Applying separate sealing or securing members, e.g. clips

Definitions

  • This invention relates generally to the field of closing bags, netting, or casings closing systems are disclosed e.g. in US-2391891-A .
  • This invention relates more specifically to applying a clip to a gathered neck of a bag, a net, or a casing.
  • This invention also relates to attaching a label while applying a clip to a gathered neck of a bag, a net, or a casing. More particularly, the invention relates to the field of packaging edible food products, such as hams, poultry, sausages, and cheeses, in bags, netting, or casings.
  • the invention can be used for closing any materials in a bag, netting, or casing, and is not limited to edible food products.
  • Sausages are made by mixing minced meat and seasonings to produce a pasty product, which is extruded through a product horn into a tubular casing.
  • a clipper creates a void in the extruded tubular casing, gathers the casing into a neck, applies two clips to the neck, and severs the casing between the two clips, to form the back end of a completed sausage and the front end of the sausage still being extruded.
  • Other food products including hams, turkeys, and whole-muscle products, are produced in a similar fashion.
  • Some food products are packaged in bags, which must then be closed. Poultry, for example, including in particular whole chickens and chicken parts, are often packaged in clear plastic bags. After the poultry has been inserted into a bag, a clipper gathers the open end of the bag, gathers it into a neck, and applies a clip to close the bag.
  • netting Other food products are encased in netting for sale to the final consumer.
  • Larger items such as hams, turkeys, turkey breasts, sausages, and cheeses, are packaged in netting for ease of handling.
  • one end of tubular netting is closed with a clip, the item is placed within the netting, the netting is gathered tightly around the item, a clip is applied to enclose the item within the netting, and the netting is severed.
  • a loop is formed in one end of the netting to create a handle on the package, to ease handling of the items, which may be heavy, and to allow consumers to lift the items without actually touching the items.
  • a label is attached to one of the clips to provide identifying information.
  • items are packaged in netting in order to enhance the appearance of the items after processing.
  • sausages, hams, and cheeses are often encased in tubular netting, as described above, prior to processing.
  • the item expands within the netting and pushes through the mesh of the netting.
  • the netting is removed and discarded. The item retains a dimpled appearance that is considered pleasing to consumers.
  • the bag, casing, or netting must be closed securely. If a consumer picked up a large item such as a turkey and the netting slipped, an injury could result, either from the turkey falling out one end of the netting or by the handle pulling tightly about the consumer's fingers. During smoking of hams or sausages, if the netting did not hold tight about the item, the item would not expand through the mesh of the net and would not obtain the dimpled appearance that is considered desirable. If a bag of chicken was not sealed tightly, liquids within the bag could leak out, creating not only an appearance unsightly to consumers but also a health hazard.
  • Clips are generally used to seal packages in the situations described above, as well as in many other situations.
  • the common office staple for example, that holds pieces of paper together, is a clip.
  • An exemplary clip as is known in the prior art is described in U.S. Patent No. 6,401,306 , Sealing Clips For Bags And Tubes And Matrix For Sealing The Latter.
  • FIG. 1 A conventional prior-art clip 10 is shown in FIG. 1 .
  • Clip 10 has a top section 12 from which project two identical legs 14, defining a space 16 between the legs 14. Legs 14 are often pointed, to ease entry into the grooves of a die or to punch through material.
  • a series of clips are usually assembled into a cartridge, held together by glue or tape, which is loaded into a clipper. The cartridge of clips is often carried on a rail to the operating point of the clipper.
  • Clips are closed by a combination of a punch and a die.
  • the clipper orients the first clip 10 from a cartridge over a neck of a gathered bag, casing, or netting, so that the neck is within the space 16.
  • a punch presses on the top section 12 of the clip, forcing the legs 14 into grooves on a die.
  • the grooves force the legs 14 inward toward each other as the punch descends, until the legs have closed to form an aperture surrounding the neck of gathered bag, casing, or netting.
  • the punch-and-die system of the prior art requires quite a bit of power to operate, as a great deal of pressure is required to close a clip by punching the top of it. Additionally, precise control of the amount of punching power is required. Enough punch power must be applied to seal the clip, especially for food products, which must be thoroughly sealed. Too much punch, however, will destroy the bag, casing, or netting, contrary to the intended purpose of the system. Achieving the proper power for the punch is a problem for clipper manufacturers.
  • the present invention discloses a clip closure system for closing clips.
  • the clip closure system is part of a clipper, a bagger, or a netter.
  • FIG. 2 The clip 20 of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 2 .
  • Clip 20 comprises a base section 22 joining two legs 24, 26.
  • Leg 24 is preferably shorter than leg 26.
  • leg 26 is approximately the same length as the width of base section 22 and leg 24 is about eighty-five percent (85%) of the length of leg 26.
  • Base section 22 and legs 24, 26 define a space 28.
  • Clip 20 is preferably made of aluminum or other relatively soft metal.
  • Clip 20 is preferably rectangular in cross-section and preferably of constant cross-sectional area. Clip 20, however, could be round, square, hexagonal, or other shape in cross section and legs 24, 26 could taper from where they meet base section 22 at nodes 32, 34 to their ends 36, 38, respectively.
  • a plurality of clips 20 can be assembled into a cartridge (not shown) by aligning the clips 20 and applying glue or tape (not shown) in a manner well known in the art.
  • the cartridge can be loaded and configured to deliver clips 20 to the clip closure system of the present invention in a manner well known in the art.
  • the clip closing system 50 of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in plan view in FIGS. 3 through 6 .
  • Clip 20, as shown is already in place on guide rail 52, which has a first side 54 and a second side 56, with clip 20 held therebetween.
  • Guide rail 52 is a standard guide rail used for clippers as is well known in the art.
  • First jaw 60 is rotatably mounted to first side 54 by axle 62, so that first jaw 60 rotates in the plane formed by clip 20.
  • First jaw 60 is made of base section 64 and arcuate arm 66.
  • the arc 68 formed by arcuate arm 66 is preferably configured to correspond to the arc 70 that will be formed when leg 24 of clip 20 is bent, as will later be described.
  • Second jaw 80 is rotatably mounted to second side 56 by axle 82, so that second jaw 80 rotates in the plane formed by clip 20.
  • Second jaw 80 is made of base section 84 and arcuate arm 86.
  • the arc 88 formed by arcuate arm 86 is preferably configured to correspond to the arc 90 that will be formed when leg 26 of clip 20 is bent, as will later be described.
  • crank arm 100 has a first end 104 and a second end 106.
  • First end 104 connects through bearing 108 to a journal on base section 64.
  • Crank arm 110 has a first end 114 and a second end 116.
  • First end connects through bearing 118 to a journal on base section 84.
  • Both second ends 106, 116 connect at connector 120.
  • Connector 120 preferably attaches to an actuator, such as reciprocating cylinder 122, which is preferably an air-actuated cylinder, which operates to move connector 120 in a reciprocal motion, toward guide rail 52 and away from guide rail 52. (For convenience, cylinder 122 is shown only in FIG.
  • Crank arm 100 is preferably shorter than crank arm 110. In the preferred embodiment, crank arm 100 is about 85 percent of the length of crank arm 110. Accordingly, when connector 120 moves toward guide rail 52, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 , first jaw 60 begins to rotate about axle 62, so that arcuate arm 66 moves toward leg 24 of clip 20. As arcuate arm 66 contacts leg 24, as shown in FIG. 4 , leg 24 begins to bend inward into space 28. Further motion of connector 120 toward guide rail 52 causes leg 24 to continue to bend until it is completely bent into its desired position, preferably ninety degrees, as shown in FIG. 5 , such that leg 24 is parallel to base section 22. Leg 24 will form a bend defining arc 70, which generally corresponds in shape to arc 68.
  • Second jaw 80 rotates about axle 82, so that it moves inward toward leg 26 of clip 20. Because crank arm 110 is longer than crank arm 100, second jaw 80 does not rotate inward as quickly as first jaw 60. Accordingly, when first jaw 60 is bending leg 24 inward, second jaw 80 has not yet contacted leg 26, as shown in FIG. 4 .
  • second jaw 80 Upon further movement of connector 120, second jaw 80 begins to rotate inward, contacts leg 26, and begins to bend leg 26 inward into space 28, as shown in FIG. 5 . Further movement of connector 120 causes second jaw 80 to continue to rotate inward, pressing leg 26 further until is has been bent into its desired second position, preferably ninety degrees (90°), as shown in FIG. 6 , such that leg 26 is parallel to base section 22. Leg 26 will form a bend defining arc 90, which generally corresponds in shape to arc 88. Since leg 24 has already been bent into its desired position, leg 26 bends against leg 24 and preferably on top of leg 24 such that legs 24, 26 are parallel to one another, as illustrated in FIG. 6 , closing clip 20 to form aperture 122. The neck of netting, bag, or casing over which clip 20 had been placed therefore becomes sealed.
  • Cylinder 122 then actuates to move connector 120 away from rail 52, pulling first jaw 60 and second jaw 80 away from clip 22, as shown in FIG. 6 .
  • the material that was clipped whether it be a netting, bag, or casing which covers a chicken, a sausage, a turkey, or a non-food item, is removed, along with now-closed clip 20, in a manner known in the art and dependent on the apparatus to which clip closure system 50 is integrated, and the process can repeat by placement of a new clip 22 on rail 52.
  • clip closure system 50 can be part of a stand-alone, manually operated clipper, such as a SCH 7210, sold by Poly-clip System Corp.
  • clip closure system 50 is part of an automatic sealing/clipping machine such as a TSCA 120, sold by Poly-clip System Corp.
  • clip closure system 50 can be part of an bagging apparatus, such as is described in United States Patent No. 6,895,726 , Poly-Stretch Bagger System, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
  • clip closure system 50 can be part of a netting apparatus, such as is described in United States Patent No. 6,883,297 , Automated Netter, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Package Closures (AREA)
  • Clamps And Clips (AREA)
  • Seal Device For Vehicle (AREA)
  • Vehicle Interior And Exterior Ornaments, Soundproofing, And Insulation (AREA)
  • Piezo-Electric Or Mechanical Vibrators, Or Delay Or Filter Circuits (AREA)
  • Cable Accessories (AREA)
  • Coupling Device And Connection With Printed Circuit (AREA)

Claims (8)

  1. Système de fermeture d'agrafe (50) pour fermer une agrafe, l'agrafe comportant une section de base (22) et des première et deuxième branches (24, 26), s'étendant à partir de ses extrémités opposées, ledit système de fermeture d'agrafe comprenant:
    un rail (52), configuré de sorte à retenir la section de base (22) de l'agrafe ;
    une première mâchoire montée sur un essieu (62) au niveau d'un premier coté (54) dudit rail (52), et pouvant tourner par rapport audit rail ;
    une deuxième mâchoire montée sur un essieu (82), au niveau d'un deuxième côté (56) dudit rail (52) et pouvant tourner par rapport audit rail ;
    chacune des dites mâchoires comprenant un bras arqué (66, 86), s'étendant dans une première direction, dudit essieu (62, 82) vers une branche de ladite agrafe (20), et une section de base de mâchoire (64, 84), s'étendant dans une deuxième direction, à partir dudit essieu (62, 82) et à l'écart d'une branche de l'agrafe ;
    un connecteur (120) monté sur un moyen d'actionnement (122), ledit moyen d'actionnement pouvant effectuer un mouvement de va-et-vient vers ledit rail (52) et à l'écart dudit rail ;
    un premier bras de manivelle (100), connectant ledit connecteur à ladite section de base de ladite première mâchoire, ledit premier bras de manivelle (100) ayant une longueur ;
    un deuxième bras de manivelle (110), connectant ledit connecteur à ladite section de base de ladite deuxième mâchoire, ledit deuxième bras de manivelle ayant une longueur inférieure à ladite longueur dudit premier bras.
  2. Système de fermeture d'agrafe (50) selon la revendication 1, dans lequel ledit moyen d'actionnement (122) déplace ledit connecteur (120) dans un mouvement de va-et-vient, de sorte que ledit connecteur se déplace entre une première position proche dudit rail (52) et une deuxième position éloignée dudit rail, dans lequel, lorsque ledit connecteur est déplacé vers ladite première position, ledit connecteur entraîne les première et deuxième mâchoires à fléchir respectivement les première et deuxième branches de l'agrafe, et lorsque ledit connecteur est déplacé vers ladite deuxième position, ledit connecteur entraîne le déplacement desdites première et deuxième mâchoires à l'écart de l'agrafe après le fléchissement des première et deuxième branches.
  3. Système de fermeture d'agrafe (50) selon la revendication 1, dans lequel ladite longueur de ladite première branche (24) représente environ quatre-vingt-huit (85) pour cent de ladite longueur de ladite deuxième branche (26).
  4. Système de fermeture d'agrafe (50) selon la revendication 2, dans lequel ladite première mâchoire contacte et fléchit la première branche (24) de l'agrafe, de sorte que la première branche est en général parallèle à la section de base de l'agrafe, ladite deuxième mâchoire contactant et fléchissant la deuxième branche (26) de l'agrafe, de sorte que la deuxième branche est en général parallèle à la première branche et à la section de base de l'agrafe, la deuxième branche de l'agrafe contactant ainsi la première branche de l'agrafe, pour fermer l'agrafe.
  5. Système de fermeture d'agrafe (50) selon la revendication 1, dans lequel ledit moyen d'actionnement (122) est actionné automatiquement.
  6. Système de fermeture d'agrafe (50) selon la revendication 5, dans lequel ledit moyen d'actionnement (122) est un cylindre pneumatique.
  7. Système de fermeture d'agrafe (50) selon la revendication 1, dans lequel ledit moyen d'actionnement (122) est actionné manuellement.
  8. Système de fermeture d'agrafe (50) selon la revendication 1, dans lequel ledit système de fermeture d'agrafe, comprend en outre au moins un dispositif, une agrafeuse, un dispositif de mise en sac ou un dispositif de mise sous filet.
EP06784941A 2005-06-16 2006-06-15 Systeme de fermeture d'attache Not-in-force EP1899229B1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US69096105P 2005-06-16 2005-06-16
US11/424,251 US8020357B2 (en) 2005-06-16 2006-06-15 Clip closure system
PCT/US2006/023356 WO2006138486A2 (fr) 2005-06-16 2006-06-15 Systeme de fermeture d'attache

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1899229A2 EP1899229A2 (fr) 2008-03-19
EP1899229A4 EP1899229A4 (fr) 2009-12-30
EP1899229B1 true EP1899229B1 (fr) 2010-12-15

Family

ID=37571179

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP06784941A Not-in-force EP1899229B1 (fr) 2005-06-16 2006-06-15 Systeme de fermeture d'attache

Country Status (8)

Country Link
US (1) US8020357B2 (fr)
EP (1) EP1899229B1 (fr)
AT (1) ATE491641T1 (fr)
AU (1) AU2006259327A1 (fr)
BR (1) BRPI0613700A2 (fr)
DE (1) DE602006018922D1 (fr)
NZ (1) NZ564594A (fr)
WO (1) WO2006138486A2 (fr)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
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US20210307750A1 (en) * 2018-12-18 2021-10-07 Bolder Surgical, Llc Surgical stapler and related methods
DE102021111885A1 (de) * 2021-05-06 2022-11-10 GHD Georg Hartmann Maschinenbaugesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung Vorrichtung zum maschinellen Verschließen eines polymeren und/oder metallfreien Verschlussbandstreifens sowie Verwendung und Betriebsverfahren hierfür
US11872679B1 (en) * 2022-07-14 2024-01-16 Ann-Chain Enterprise Co., Ltd. Pneumatic nail gun

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Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU2006259327A2 (en) 2008-02-28
ATE491641T1 (de) 2011-01-15
AU2006259327A1 (en) 2006-12-28
BRPI0613700A2 (pt) 2011-01-25
US20060283144A1 (en) 2006-12-21
US8020357B2 (en) 2011-09-20
DE602006018922D1 (de) 2011-01-27
EP1899229A2 (fr) 2008-03-19
WO2006138486A2 (fr) 2006-12-28
EP1899229A4 (fr) 2009-12-30
WO2006138486A3 (fr) 2008-01-03
NZ564594A (en) 2010-02-26

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